“Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial,
do not worry beforehand about what to say.
Just say whatever is given to you at the time,
for it is not you speaking but the Holy Spirit.”
Mark 13:11
As Jesus prepared His disciples to go forth and be His witnesses to the world, He also gave them a heads up: expect to be arrested.
“Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial,” Jesus said.
Not if, but when.
Our fears of sharing about Jesus might include stumbling over our words, rejection by friends and family, or just an overall sense of awkwardness in not quite knowing how or what to say. But at least (as of today), in America, we need not worry about being arrested and brought to trial for sharing our faith.
Yet one thing has not changed between followers of Christ now and then: the same Holy Spirit indwells us. He will faithfully put His words on our tongues now, as He did for the disciples then.
Our trial may not be with the governing authorities, but with a friend or family member. Have you been there? Have you ever been attacked for your faith? Have you ever been accused of being “holier than thou” … had your motives called into question … had your words parsed … or just accused of being a “bad” Christian for sharing the Gospel?
Of course, the easy way to avoid those confrontations is to stay home and avoid sharing our faith. Keep all conversations safe and superficial. But that choice means we allow fear of people to overrule our obedience to Jesus. For the mature believer who take her faith seriously, the Great Commission assignment is not optional.
Read Matthew 28:19-20. Go means go.
And sometimes, “go” brings consequences. Perhaps the consequences themselves become part of the story God is writing. Perhaps our response to an attack becomes the very thing God uses to humble the hearer. What we may think is a 3-step process (I share, she hears, and God saves) may actually include 100 steps spread out over months or years instead of minutes. We can’t know. And we really don’t need to know.
Our responsibility is to obey – and then leave the timing and the results to God. We need not worry about their response. We need not worry about our own response to their response.
Jesus confirms the role of the Holy Spirit when we are on trial: He will put His words on our tongue. He will give us, in His time, what we are to say. No need to rehearse it or plan it out. Just pray first, then go forth in love and share the Gospel. While we can’t control or even anticipate the response, the Holy Spirit will give us whatever we are to say.
Challenging circumstances offer the greatest opportunity to display our faith to a hurting world that desperately needs Jesus. When our response to an attack is not what is expected, those who hear will take note. When it’s not my words, but the Holy Spirit’s, that come forth:
- Love wins out over anger
- Defense mode evaporates
- Pride gives way to humility
- Faith trumps fear
The supernatural response is the Holy Spirit response. And it is the one that catches the hearer off guard. She takes note. She is intrigued, as she wonders, Why is she not defending herself? And, hopefully, the next question she asks is, “Why?”
My response in times of trial reveals the contents of my heart. Like the proverbial tube of toothpaste, pressure on the outside squeezes out what is on the inside. Hard times are heart-revealers. Our faith is proven real when it is tested under fire.
But come what may, we can count on His words on our tongue when we need them.
